Surfing Newport Beach

Could I hang out on the Beach for a couple hours while he saw a client? What, me stroll around Newport Beach and hang around the pier with the locals and tourists for a while? 

Was he kidding? Of course! His last words as I got out of the vehicle “don’t pick up any surfer boys”. 

Uh-oh…the don’t word! Picking up guys was not my goal, photos were, and memories were, mental postcards.

I walked up a sidewalk until I found the perfect spot at the short wall that separates the sand from the pavement. I pulled up a piece of it and sat, taking a deep breath and a pause. There it was; the surf, salty air, sunshine, seabirds, music and muffled chatter. I pulled out the camera and started snapping away.

I walked up the pier and sat on a bench. There were people fishing and walking, there were joggers on the beach and surfers in the water. 

The waves were not huge but they were tempting a few guys up on to their boards. It was exactly what you might imagine a southern California beach to look like. It was perfect.

I took a lap around the boardwalk and decided on lunch, a glass of chardonnay and a salad. It was a tiny little bar/grill that could have been located in any Mexican Riviera village or even on the Gulf of Mexico. I took a second glass of wine to the outdoor patio and people watched.

I walked the boardwalk again and enjoyed watching a surfer rinse off at the shower. He was blubbering about how cold the water in the shower was and interspersing it with bits of an aria from Tosca. His buddies hollered over at him to stop complaining I would think he was a pussy. He stopped turned and looked at me with his hair dripping wet and the water from the shower splashing off his wet bare skin, sliding down over the wet suit that covered the lower half of his muscular tan frame. He shook his head like a dog, flinging water in every direction and grinned as he then continued to sing and boldly rinse off. I shook my head and smiled as I strolled on by. I could not have orchestrated a more joyful moment. I have a greater appreciation for the amazing mind of film directors who create moments like that all the time. 

I found another spot on the short sea wall not far from a man playing a guitar and singing softly. As I turned to sit a man in a wet suit walks around his vehicle and sits not 10 paces from me. He starts to chat. I did not find surfers they found me. Before I know it four hours have gone by and my ride is waiting.

It was a brilliant Newport Beach day. Thanx surfer boys!